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Kuwait Society for Human Rights Launches Project to Support and Protect Migrant Workers

Kuwait Society for Human Rights (KSHR), in collaboration with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), has launched the “Support” Project that aims to protect migrant workers in Kuwait and educate them on their legal rights, under the honorary auspices of Mr. Hassan Kazem Mohammed, Assistant Undersecretary for Development Affairs in the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Mr. Khalid Al-Ajmi, Chairman of KSHR Board of Directors, said that this one-year project aims to protect the rights of migrant workers in Kuwait and address the violations they face by providing legal support to them, raising their awareness about their rights and motivating the community to advocate for their issues.

Al-Ajmi added that the project will see several activities, including the continuous provision of services through the hotline “22215150” or e-platform to receive complaints and inquiries of expatriate workers.

On the other hand, Mr. Hassan Kazem Mohammed, Assistant Undersecretary for Development Affairs in the Ministry of Social Affairs said that the project aspires to open new horizons in the community work through joint responsibility with government authorities, to create legal culture and awareness among migrant workers in Kuwait and provide legal advice and direct support for their cases in courts.

He indicated that the project comes to implement the directives of the “Humanitarian Leader” H.H the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who always urges the people of Kuwait to lead humanitarian initiatives that solidify Kuwait’s status as a global humanitarian center.

“We are working to achieve the Kuwait Vision 2035 that aims to make the country a leading financial and commercial trade center for the region to attract investments and embody the aspirations of Kuwaiti people. This project is an integral part of the implementation of this vision because it educates workers on their legal rights and enables Public Benefit Associations to participate in implementing the vision,” he added.

In the same context, Ahmed Al-Humaidi, Project Director, said that the project will work directly with private sector workers, domestic workers, relevant government authorities, embassies that have employees in Kuwait, workers of Civil Society Organizations operating in this field and human rights defenders.

He also added that the project will work indirectly with all segments of the community, which will be reached through the media campaign that will accompany the project via emails of media activists and civil and media institutions, WhatsApp lists and social media sites of KSHR.

The workers’ issues will be directly supported and a number of translators, who speak “French, English, Hindi, Urdu and Filipino”, will be present in the centers of the Public Authority for Manpower, following coordination with the authority that has welcomed this step within the framework of providing free services to workers for the benefit of all people and to facilitate the functioning of the administration.

A specialized unit will be established to monitor and document violations against migrant workers in Kuwait and to produce public specialized analytical reports on violations against them, as well as government achievements in the protection of workers’ rights, challenges and difficulties faced by migrant workers.

It is expected that the project will produce an awareness guide for migrant workers. It will be available in Arabic and five other languages and will be used as an important reference to guide workers on their rights. It will be based on images and will be drafted in a simple manner. Additionally, the guide will seek to find recommendations that will contribute to reaching systematic solutions to address the prevalent culture of hatred against migrant workers in Kuwait.

The project will be accompanied by an intensive media campaign to support and advocate for some issues that will be adopted by the project. It will also work to convey the project’s message to the community via the social media sites of KSHR.

This project is implemented as a second phase of the project “Together to Educate Migrant Workers on their Rights in Kuwait”, which was implemented in collaboration with the Embassy of Netherlands in Kuwait and achieved great success in raising legal awareness among migrant workers. It was praised both locally and internationally and was concluded in mid-2017.

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The objective of this project is to help address the violations faced by migrant workers in Kuwait by several means, have them educate themselves about their rights and provide legal counseling.
First, the project aims to translate Kuwait’s Labor Law, currently available in Arabic only, in five other languages: English, French, Urdu, Filipino and Hindi.
Secondly, the project will establish a hotline in these languages to receive information and complaints from the employees, as well as monitor and document the violations to which they are exposed and the ways to address them. The results will be published in periodic reports.